The One Thing

Derek and Scott talk to Rory Shiner from Providence Church in Perth, Western Australia. Rory has taken two churches through the ’125 barrier’ and he shares the benchmark problems he’s come to look out for.

Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders move into their second episode of their first in-depth TOT collection: Growth barriers. Practically speaking, what are the key barriers to church growth, and what can done in God’s strength to address them?

Assembling a list of helpful insights, tips and resources for breaking through the ‘35 Growth Barrier’, Scott and Derek talk to Aaron Boyd, the pastor of Exchange Church in Darebin, Victoria to get hear what God has taught him.

In a special edition of The One Thing, Derek Hanna interviews Scott Sanders at Multiply 2019 and asks him about his hope for a lost nation.

This week The One Thing team take a break from their normal format to bring you both sides of the ‘professionalism’ debate.

How do you get people who've been in the church a long time go deeper in their relationship with God?

Keith and Sarah Condie serve as Co-directors of the new Institute for Mental Health & Pastoral Care with Anglican Deaconess Ministries. Scott Sanders talks to them about biblically and theologically informed pastoral care that alleviates distress and promotes wellbeing.

You need help, so you’re going to spend the dollars and bring someone in to help shoulder the ministry load. But how do you know who to hire?

Scott Sanders speaks to Keith and Sarah Condie who have been working at strengthening marriages for more than two decades. They have recently produced ‘Building a safe and strong marriage’ and are ready to pass on ‘the one thing’ you need to know about creating a lasting commitment.

How do we go about earning that trust from those we lead? And what sort of corrosive habits do we have to weed out if we’re going to avoid undermining the faith they place in us?

One of the greatest barriers to growing a congregation is our own preparedness to change. The congregation – the volunteers – the leadership team. Unless we’re able to recognise that things at one size group don’t work at another, we’ll never be able to make the changes that undergird growth.

Developing leaders is a significant and important investment for all ministry teams. Are there specific requirements and understandings for developing female leaders, though?

What do women want men to know when it comes to pastoral care? Does equality mean they don’t have to be treated any differently? Or does wisdom suggest a different approach?

Church announcements – the bane or blessing of the body of Christ? What is the rationale for having them, and how can they best be used to serve the Kingdom of God?

Can a church bulletin have too many fonts? In fact, what should it focus on, and leave out altogether?

As churches grow, they need to change the way they do things, or give up growing.

J.D. Greear is the president of the largest denomination in the US – the Southern Baptists. Its decline has been widely reported in the media, and the same trend is playing out in many denominations here in Australia.

How do you become a sending church? J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He’s leading Summit towards a bold vision to plant 1,000 new churches by the year 2050.

How do you pray together as the body of Christ, in a way that informs and uplifts without excluding or confusing?

What’s the best way to bring someone within earshot of the Gospel if they’re not interested in darkening a church door?

Following on from Episode #48, Derek and Scott return to talk to Robby, for more discipleship insights from the author of Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples

Pastor Robby Gallaty is an American church leader who is driving a revolution in the way we think about small groups.

How much time do you spend thinking about the outsider, and their experience of your ministry? What are you doing to remove the ‘road blocks’ to them feeling at home and engaging in the Gospel message?

Your church is growing and you think it’s time to start a second service. But is it as simple as photocopying what you have?

Is it OK to fail? It certainly needs to be, because failure is a common experience for anyone in a faulted world. So how do you go about creating a culture for your ministry that accepts failure so that your team is empowered to keep trying for the sake of the Kingdom?